NATSIAA 2026: Ryan Presley wins National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed

On first look it’s a peaceable scene, however a quiet sense of dread and unease creeps up on you virtually instantly. It takes a second to determine why. The central determine is peaceable; a person sleeping, head rolled to 1 facet, his hand draped throughout his center. But he’s sleeping subsequent to a gun – and that gun is perched precariously on a ledge over a physique of water. In the background the mild colors counsel an exquisite day drawing to a detailed; however you then see the smoke rising.

Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed by Marri Ngarr artist Dr Ryan Presley has simply been introduced because the 2026 winner of the $100,000 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art Award.

The multimedia artist and educational’s works span drawings, set up, efficiency, portray, writing and video games. “I like blending ideas and bringing different things together,” Presley says.

He has had a long-standing curiosity in Renaissance, baroque and romantic interval works, however it was when he first noticed the sixteenth century portray The Annunciation by Domenico Beccafumi that he knew he needed to create one thing that each referenced it and captured the moody environment. “I really liked the mix of dark and light and there was a real intense quality to the work,” says Presley.

The scaffolding Beccafumi offers to Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed is obvious, although the sensation of Presley’s portray is solely completely different. “It’s quite ethereal and moody in the original work. So I kept elements of that, and then changed the landscape, changed the building. Made it more localised.” There are eucalyptus timber and bushfires within the distant mountain ranges to create “an unsettling quality – a mix between beauty and disaster”.

The central determine is one other classical reference with an area and trendy twist; Adonis by Antonio Corradini. It’s a topic Presley has tackled beforehand, in his large-scale drawing Daydreamer IV (2024). “After putting that together … I was like, ah, I like this, but I think I can take it further.” Instead of a reinterpretation of the unique sculpture, right here he breathed extra life into the sleeping determine; made it really feel really alive.

The last result’s a piece that’s each acquainted and alien, comfy and nerve-racking. A person who’s oblivious to the hazards round him, sleeping because the world burns. “I like that push and pull,” says Presley. “Ornate things mixed with ominous qualities … mixing in acceptance of reality as well as ignoring or denial of reality”.

The 64 finalists had been drawn from a pool of 221 entries, with this 12 months’s judging panel made up of artists Julie Gough, Yhonnie Scarce and Warraba Weatherall, with all finalist works on show in an exhibition at Darwin’s Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT).

Guest curator Dr Shannon Brett explains that after the finalists had been chosen “we realised that there’s an overwhelming story or theme about women in many of the works – and these are stories that are even being delivered by some of the men. So stories about grandmothers, mothers, family, the power of women, women on country. It’s just a beautiful thing.”

Tiwi artist Colin Heenan-Puruntatameri was this 12 months’s Multimedia Award winner for his video work Ngirramini Ngini Amparruwu (The Story of the Widow). Part of his work as an artist is making a cultural archive. “The mission’s ultimate goal was to eradicate culture, and it is our goal to do the opposite,” he says.

Video has a job to play in passing on tradition, he explains. “These things will be here long after us. My mother’s cousin isn’t here any more, but I can sing her song. That means her great-grandchildren can now learn that song and keep passing it on, and it’s now documented forever on this digital space.”

Gulumerridjin, Wardaman and KarraJarri artist Jenna Mayilema Lee gained the Work on Paper Award for Taking Back Taken. The work is constructed solely out of repurposed maps from the British Museum. Lee first had the concept when she was dwelling in London, and observed that the museum had been asking for a £2 donation for his or her maps.

“I thought that was really interesting to ask people to donate in order to have a wayfinding map, when I guess the justification from the British Museum for still having a lot of objects is that it means everybody in the world can come and see it. So I just decided to take maps without paying,” she explains. Over the years, mates visiting the museum contributed to her rising assortment, and, after painstakingly honing her method, the consequence was the six paper dillybags that make up Taking Back Taken.

Other class winners, who every obtain $15,000, included Vanessa Inkamala who gained the Telstra General Painting Award for Arrkurla Nukala / Lyaarta Ntema, Barayuwa Munuŋgurr who gained the Bark Painting Award for The Hidden Reef at Yarrinya, Napuwarri Marawili who gained the Wandjuk Marika Memorial 3D Award for Djambatj – Deadly Hunter and Guruwuy Murrinyina who gained the Emerging Artist Award for Prismatic Arc.

Brett loves each work within the exhibition, however requested about Our Lifestyle of Tranquility Undisturbed, says the portray is particular. “It’s all there. That work is about the past, the present, potentially the future. It’s not only about culture and people, it’s about art. It’s actually about art and different ways of communicating through art. And it’s also technically brilliant.”

“Creativity has a huge role in being a human being,” says Presley. “Maybe not enough people make the connection [of] how critical it is and how much it threads into our day-to-day lives,” he continues. However, “it’s integral to our existence”.

The NATSIAA 2026 exhibition is at MAGNT, Darwin, till January 24, 2027.

Elizabeth Flux travelled to Darwin as a visitor of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.

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